The present invention relates generally to ground engaging apparatus and, in a representative embodiment thereof, more particularly provides specially designed apparatus for (1) inhibiting undesirable side-to-side movement of a wear member support structure, such as an adapter, relative to a front bucket lip edge on which the adapter is mounted, and (2) shielding the bucket lip edge from operational wear at the wear member mounting location thereon.
In ground engaging arts such as excavation and mining it is common practice to secure a support structure, such as an adapter to which a wear member (such as a replaceable tooth point) may in turn be mounted, to a front edge portion of an excavating bucket lip. Typically, the adapter has rear top and bottom leg portions which straddle the front bucket lip edge and are secured to the bucket lip rearwardly of its front edge to hold the installed adapter in place on the bucket lip. It is considered desirable to inhibit side-to-side movement of the installed adapter relative to the bucket lip, and to additionally shield the front bucket lip edge from operational wear at the adapter installation location thereon.
Previous attempts to meet these two design criteria have often proven to be less than entirely satisfactory due to undesirably high expense and/or complexity. It would accordingly be desirable to provide improved apparatus for stabilizing a lip-mounted ground engaging support structure that was substantially less costly and complex. It is to this goal that the present invention is primarily directed.